Now that you know your financial advisors have turned out to be not so brilliant, in 2009 many people will find themselves looking for new sources of equity research.
The total number of Wall Street senior analysts shrank 40% to 50% over the past year, says Sandford Bragg, CEO of Integrity Research Associates, which tracks analysts from over 1,000 firms for institutional clients. "We've been forecasting consolidation for some time, but we didn't think it would happen so quickly," says Bragg.
So where do you look for new sources of premium investment guidance?
Some long-running free financial blogs are starting to offer premium services. This year, www.Footnoted.org, is offering FootnotedPro, a premium service charging $100 a month or $1,000/year.
Web-based research firm Bespoke Investment Group was founded in May 2007. Along with a free blog, Bespoke offers a $365 annual premium research service that includes daily reports on key market indicators as well as stock and sector picks.
Research Edge in New Haven employs a half-dozen former top-ranked analysts and will offer online access to its buy and sell recommendations on stocks and exchange-traded funds at a starting fee of $2,700 a year. Subscribers will also get indepth reports periodically.
The granddaddy of premium Web sites remains Morningstar. The Chicago firm started out providing reports on mutual funds, but since 2005 it has been steadily adding product categories. Currently, for an annual fee of $159, subscribers can read regularly updated reports from 200 analysts on 2,000 stocks and get access to fairly involved screening tools for finding stock or fund bargains. Morningstar bought Website 10-K Wizard on December 4th, adding one of the top automated services for screening securities filings to its investing arsenal.
Source: BUSINESSWEEK, January 19, 2009
